US President Donald Trump has said in an exclusive telephone interview with the BBC that he is disappointed with Vladimir Putin but has not broken off relations with him.
Asked whether the US president trusts the Russian leader, Trump replied, “I trust almost nobody.”
Asked whether he has broken off relations with Putin, Trump replied, “I’m disappointed with him, but I haven’t broken off relations. But I am disappointed with him.”
And how does Trump plan to get Putin to “stop the bloodshed?” He replied, “We’re working on it.” We’ll have a great conversation. I’ll say, ‘This is good, I think we’ll do it soon,’ and then he’ll blow up a building in Kyiv.”
The conversation moved to the topic of NATO, which Trump has previously criticized as “obsolete.” Asked whether he still thinks so, he replied, “No, I think NATO is now becoming the exact opposite of that,” as the alliance “pays its bills.”
He said he still believes in collective defense because it allows smaller countries to defend themselves against larger ones.
Trump was also asked about the future of the United Kingdom in the world, and he said he thought it was “a great place—you know, I have real estate there.”
He said he was looking forward to his second unprecedented state visit to the United Kingdom in September. As for the visit, Trump said, “To have a good time and to pay respect to King Charles, because he’s a great gentleman.”
It marks the anniversary of the assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Asked if surviving the assassination attempt has changed him, Trump said he tries to think about it as little as possible. “I don’t like to think about it changing me,” he said, adding that thinking about it “could change my life.”
